Blog post three
Akash Shah on Nov 12th 2013
There is two part to this blog post.
Part 1
Create or find a photograph or some other image (a meme, an animated GIF, etc.) that represents in some way your experience at Baruch thus far. Embed your image in a blog post in which you reflect, in no more than 500 words, on your impressions of your first three months at Baruch. Your response should be personal and creative. If you use an image that you did not create yourself, be sure to credit the source with a name, if possible, and a URL!
Part 2 Enrichment Workshop
Write a blog post of no more than 500 words that addresses the ways in which the enrichment workshop resonated with you from a personal perspective and, if applicable, if it inspired you in any way.
Filed in Blog Post Three | 16 responses so far
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Part 1:
https://www.google.com/search?q=bamboo+trees&client=firefox-a&hs=BLM&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=fflb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=KpKCUpuYCorJsQSJvYKQBw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=906#channel=fflb&q=bamboo+plants&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=xlDmCCEVPd49kM%3A%3BotTtIy2jSRAqRM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F0.tqn.com%252Fd%252Ffurniture%252F1%252F0%252Fu%252FK%252F-%252F-%252Fbamboo-plant.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Ffurniture.about.com%252Fod%252Ffurnishingdesignresources%252Fss%252FUsing-Feng-Shui-In-Your-Home_3.htm%3B500%3B500
Its a bamboo plant. This represents my experience because over the past three months, my bamboo plant at home has doubled in quantity because it grows a lot. Also, I’ve grown a lot in sense that I feel a lot more independent of my school work that ever before. I’ve reinforced myself on how to do homework, study and time myself. There are lots of twists which represent my mind during midterms. It was such a hectic and crazy time filled with exams and projects and essays. Also this plant if considered lucky, I feel lucky being here, it’s a good school.
My first three months at Baruch has been a great experience. I’m happy here. I got put into a lot of classes that I like and great professors. I’ve made friends with many funny, exciting people. I got my first tutor job so it’s interesting learning and teaching. I’m almost done with my first hybrid class and I think I want to take more classes like its less time in school and I can handle the extra studying. Studying is good because I’ve made friends that make it fun. I’ve checked out a few clubs as well and hopefully by next semester I’ll be committed to a fun club, not just professional, boring one. I’m still me, which is awesome because I like me.
Part 1: The enrichment workshop talked a lot about using Blogs at Baruch as device to brand your digital self. It wasn’t very detailed but saw there are various websites one can present oneself through. If I learned anything it’s that too much photo is being taken or parties and not enough of good things people do so everything I volunteer or do something exciting and good, I’ll take a picture. Maybe I’ll post it but it’ll mostly be to remember. I’m still skeptical of how much blogs at Baruch is being used. It doesn’t seem like lots of people use it but I’ll definitely think about it as future device to present myself. If, in fact, it turns out to be great place to create a random page that’s interesting and fun with my friends, I’ll put something there in next four years,
Part 1
http://i.imgur.com/vZWLIA5.gif
Sometimes I look back every so often and think, “Wow, I’m in college. How am I still living?” I find college to be so distant from what high school was. We have more individuality compared to high schools, where we have to sit in a specific spot, attend school everyday, focus on the class every day or get scolded. I find college to be very different in these aspects and I’ll admit, it’s a nice change. But sometimes I’m astounded by how different the pacing is for each classes. Instead of a short session every day, we have long periods that only occur twice a week. Instead of being purely taught the material, the class only goes over the content briefly before rushing over to the next subject. In High School, you were taught with someone holding your hand every baby step. I still approach these new challenges with fumbling and flaws ; perhaps one day I’ll finally get used to this.
Part 2
I feel that the enrichment workshop was a bit unnecessary ; people having a separate identities is not exactly an unknown idea to us. We know we’re supposed to mind our language when speaking to a teacher for example ; we’re supposed to be polite and respectful. This goes double for those that are working or have worked. Anyone that uses the internet frequently would understand this idea of a digital identity as they are common to see : “trolls” on the internet, people making “throwaway” accounts, flamers/haters, and so on. It’s really just the issue if it has been linked with a person in reality. Lastly, regarding the usage of blogs@baruch, I don’t think that it would be a good place to make a portfolio of sorts. A blog maintained and organized by its owner would be better.
Thinking back now, all I remember is how overwhelming the beginning of the school year felt – not just because of a new school, new city, new friends, new studies, but also all the work to do, all the places to see, and even when I thought I was done there’s something left to do before I get to sleep. It’s incredible how used to it how got – now I can’t help getting a bit paranoid when I’m not doing anything. If nothing else, I’ve learned how to organize myself much better, and where at first I felt like I was drowning, now I somehow manage to juggle the work, home life, friends, club meets, and nights out. Baruch is a very multi-cultural school, and a big change from Europe; a new environment can sometimes be very intimidating, but I’m always reminded that I’m not alone here, and seeing how successful other students around me are is inspirational.
As for the enrichment workshop, I felt that it was a good idea but not in-depth enough. As students with growing online presences, we need to be mindful of where and how we present ourselves , not just in person, but with every word we type. The enrichment workshop did a good job of approaching that, but some of the information that was presented was very basic, and I felt the audience was very comfortable with the subject as it is. I would’ve appreciated greater insight into just how we are seen to other people, and who can we expect to look at our digital identities on particular sites. Do we need to be worried about what we say on anonymous forums? Is joking with your friends on Facebook a really good idea when a future employer might easily see it? The fact that it is our responsibility to look after our digital identities as much, if not more, than we look after our physical identities, could’ve been stressed a little more. The internet is a place of freedom from inhibitions and values, but also an arena where we can give ourselves the identity we want – for better or worse, true or false, it is something we must and have to use, and I feel the enrichment workshop could’ve focused on the more poignant things we can do to control and maintain our digital image.
I forgot to post the link to my chosen image : http://www.tshirtroundup.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/glass-is-always-full.jpg
It’s banal, but I think that above all I’ve reasserted my own optimist throughout this semester, and things just keep getting better.
http://img.ctrlv.in/img/5287fc472359d.jpg
So I have a picture of my textbook and notebook, which I was just using to study from. During my first 3 months at Baruch, I realized how much studying and work I had to do. Definitely not the case in high school. Anyways, it’s been quite a busy experience, but nonetheless a good one. I never thought that I’d like Baruch as much as I do now. I enjoy most of my classes (especially chemistry and calculus), and find them really interesting. I’ve met some pretty cool people here at Baruch as well.
As for the enrichment workshop, I thought it may have been more useful for other people. I use little social media, so I was not that concerned about my digital identity. However, I found it important how every little thing you put on the internet—or what others put—can affect you, both positively and negatively.
Part I:
http://www.doclind.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/tired_kid.jpg
My first three months are Baruch were hectic. I started out really disliking Baruch and hating that it was not a campus school. It wasn’t what I imagined at all and I expected a lot more. It started out relaxed and not stressful at all, however as class work piled up, homework piled up, I couldn’t find time for anything. I had a really hard work schedule that would give me no sleep. Going through something this new was hectic especially when school is a deciding factor for your future. It puts a lot of pressure on all of us. Now in college, no one is there to push you to read, no one is there to remind you about the homework that is due tomorrow. And we all have a lot at stake when a huge percentage of our grade is based on one test itself. I am not doing as well as I should be but I am ready for the next semester so I can tackle all the obstacles that come.
Part II:
At the enrichment workshop, it reminded me of what I should do to fix how I would be portrayed on the Internet. I would not want to post anything that is belittling nor embarrassing on the Internet. My digital identity is what I make it and it was nice to have it remind me of what I should beware of or post.
Part I:
http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/23148667.jpg
It’s surprising how fast 3 months of college has already passed. My first day at Baruch was mediocre at best, I didn’t like the commute. I felt a little lonely but soon I made many new friends that I enjoy being with. However, one thing that I’m not used to is the sheer amount of homework that came with college. When I first got the syllabuses for each class, I realized that I’m not going to have a lot of time to enjoy myself at home. Every night has at least one homework reading and all of the readings takes a while to finish. And there are days where I had to write essays and solve math problems. The three months of Baruch were fun and enjoyable, but I still won’t get used to the amount of homework I get for each class. It doesn’t help that I still didn’t get over my procrastination yet. Hopefully I’ll get over this next semester but the amount of homework is most likely not going to change. But that won’t stop me from enjoying college, after all, homework is normal in school life.
Part II:
For the enrichment workshop, I found it to be pretty informing but pretty old news for me. I have used the Internet for a long time and have created many accounts on many websites that each identify me differently. One thing I learned from the workshop is that I need to be careful of how I portray myself online and be careful of what I post. Since the Internet is public, I do not want people seeing personal or embarrassing information about myself.
Part I:
http://www.chicagonow.com/lists-that-actually-matter/files/2012/06/procrastination.jpg
My first few months at Baruch and college in general have been both tiring and fantastic. Tiring since there is much more work, reading, and studying to do but also great since I’ve met some cool people and my classes are fun. Its definitely different from high school since I actually have to pay attention to understand the work and attendance is much more important here. I do like how classes are only twice a week and also using all the different resources on campus. As for the picture procrastinating is one thing I’ve been doing in college and it results in late nights but still I’m glad that I am at least being challenged.
Part II:
The workshop I thought was an okay way to inform people about the positive and negatives of social networking but this doesn’t really apply to me since I don’t usually use social networking. Even though I don’t use social networking I already knew most of the stuff they were talking about, the only thing I learned was about LinkedIn and how it is used for jobs and how people can recommend you for a job. Still I think it was still a good idea just to have the workshop.
Part I: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TPaxAsyjiY4/TgoRFytvmXI/AAAAAAAACfk/rapbSgsz_z4/s1600/GarfieldLazy.jpg
Senioritis followed me into college from high school. I was unfortunately very lazy and put a lot of things off till the last minute, and ended up suffering, trying to get them done at the last minute. This is no new experience because I would do the same things back in High School, but I lied to myself and said that my bad habits would be left behind. They weren’t. As lazy as I am or could be, I still get my work done. Also, I’ve met some awesome people that I’ll be sure to keep in touch with throughout the course of my college career.
Part II: The workshop was interesting because it made me think about how differently I portray myself to be on the social media as opposed to in person. People have a lot of confidence behind a computer, I guess because no one is in front of them to judge or directly examine them. I’ve been thinking about deleting my social media because it is one of the root causes of my laziness.
http://cdn.returnofkings.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Sleeping-Man.jpg
No matter how much coffee I have, I can’t help falling asleep. Some people sleep in their earlier classes, but I sleep during my later classes. Sometimes I would oversleep for my first class completely. I would say that I am still a procrastinator, but I’ve developed the skills to make pretty good work out of let’s say… fifteen minutes. I can write a two or three page essay in 15-20 minutes easily, as I’ve done for my English class during my breaks this semester.
The workshop wasn’t really anything new to me. People who get to know me in person will know the kind of person I am. Online, I don’t do any Neo-Nazi crap, so I think I’m fine.
PART 1
http://zestnzen.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/rock-pebbles-sand.jpg
The picture about is of two jars filled with various different kinds of rocks. Each jar has big rocks, smaller pebbles, and sand. The first jar was filled with the sand first, then the pebbles, then the larger rocks. This first jar cannot be closed as the big rocks are protruding out the jar. The second jar is filled with the larger rocks first, then the pebbles, then the sand. This jar can not only be closed but also has more space left in it for more rocks. I think this picture represents my time at Baruch so far because I’m still transitioning from the first jar mentality to the second. I’ve watch myself grow from my highschool days. I procrastinate less and I’m engaged in my work more. However, I have not always prioritized. There were days that I have put the sand in the jar before the rocks. For example there are several days where I would hang out with friends instead of going to the library. There were other times where I would get assignments out of the way before going out with friends. So far, I am enjoying my experience at baruch. I am enjoying shifting through the rocks and enjoying deciding which ones go in the jar first. I am learning a lot through the mistakes I’ve made. (Some of which are in this class).
PART 2
I didn’t feel that the enrichment workshop was necessary. They focused more on the fact that there is a difference between our personality and our digital persona. This is point is nothing short of common sense I feel. The enrichment workshop would have been more informative if they delved into the digital trace aspect of the presentation. I found that part more interesting because it was coming from an investigative angle. The idea of a digital trace: everything I ever clicked on, liked, commented on (like this post here),and the different wifi connections that I’ve hooked up to is more intriguing. I feel the digital trace more connects to our in life personality because even the things that we do not want others to know are reflected there.
The presentation didn’t quite inspire me, but it did motivate me to google myself. And although there aren’t pictures of me passed out from a long weekend (thank baby Jesus!) there are still certain things that I would like to erase and not be associated with my name.
PART I
https://files.nyu.edu/us266/public/images/the-procrastinator-matt-groening.jpg
The past three months have significantly changed my life. At first I didn’t think of college work being that much different from high school work, but it’s a lot different. In high school I was taught at a much slower rate but in college its different I only have each class twice a week for about three and a half months. Homework takes much more time to do and trying to balance time with family, friends, and homework is almost impossible. I’ve made many attempts to change my routine but failed many times. When i’m at home I usually try to do whats priority but I can’t manage my time as well as I plan. The problem is not that I have too much homework for one class but rather that I have too much homework for every class. The image I chose represents how I am with homework. I usually try to get the easy homework done first because I feel that once I get that done I have the rest of the day to do the hard homework. Here is where my time management fails and everything goes down in a spiral I forget to include the many times I get distracted and lazy and I end up missing the biggest assignment I had due. College is definitely a challenge for me and its going to take some time getting used to it but that life right…
PART II
Since I do not have any social networking accounts other than the ones that I use for news feed I couldn’t relate to the topic of the workshop as others could. The part of the workshop I did like was the part when he spoke about how to use social networking as a method of branding you as a positive person. It had me thinking of how maybe you could use your identity to help inspire others in some ways. One idea I had in mind was to start Facebook page with a youtube account dedicated to a cause which can be used as a charity for tragic events. After hurricane sandy there was a student in my high school who created a Facebook page dedicated to raising funds for a relief effort he started on his own. This page led him to be recognized by many people from the school to the district leader in his community.
Part 1:
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRbuaPnl0-vJt4uyLua1_j7XlqKmjh1W4bons4nnUzjbn9AaAVaag
This is a picture of a boy who is tired of reading and studying that he falls asleep on a couch in library. For the past 3 months, I have been studying a lot and trying to maintain good grades. I have been in the library during my breaks, preparing and studying for classes. I would say its not entirely horrible studying all the time, but it is definitely worth it. I like the peace and quiet that the library has. However I also have been studying with groups. I also like this a bit better because it doesn’t get boring and it also gives me a feeling that I am being proactive. I mostly spend my time in the library because that is where I usually get all my schoolwork done. I barely do any work when I am home so I am glad I can study at the library with out any distractions
Part 2:
I feel like the enrichment workshop was not entirely useless as some people would say but I did learn very little from it. This is mostly because I knew most of what they were trying to explain to us. I would say that my personality has never been resonated from my profile on the internet but more like my personality kind of resonates or reflects itself on media. I can express some of my thoughts and personality in the media but I choose not to do so entirely. This is because I believe that parts of my personality aren’t professional and if a business that I am interviewing for sees this, it can be detrimental to my job application. I wouldn’t say this is fake either. I think it is smart to carefully choose what I put online just incase it will backfire in the future.
Image/Source: http://teramchugh.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Time.jpg
I strongly believe the above image represents my experience at Baruch thus far. I know it’s been said and repeated a million times this semester, but I can’t stress the importance of time management. As important as it is, at the beginning of the semester I sucked at it. I didn’t prioritize and to be honest, I underestimated the difficulty of my schoolwork, leading to procrastination. Although I know the courses aren’t totally hard (which they shouldn’t be considering most of them are 1000 courses), that doesn’t mean you don’t have to put in hard work. You get what you give has been emphasized so much this past semester, and I’m just now starting to act on it. I regret not taking the advice earlier, but at this point all I can do is take what I have learned (don’t fall behind or you’ll barely catch up) and apply it to the remainder of the semester, along with future ones. I’m finally beginning to get adapted to my hectic schedule of homework, work, cleaning, commuting, and THEN maybe some social time. As stressful as it’s been, I’m happy I went through this crazy transition because now I finally feel like I have some control.
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I thought the enrichment workshop was okay. The topic has potential, but the audience barely had enthusiasm and the speaker wasn’t all that effective in making his points, even though most of us caught on since it’s a simple and relatable topic. Our generation is completed surrounded by the digital world that sometimes we don’t think twice about what gets posted and how the the world views us. And while being careful with that has been taught to us in high school or maybe earlier, we forget to practice it all the time. I don’t really think people were insipired- I wasn’t- but it may have been a wake up call to ourselves to think twice on whats on our facebook or twitters, etc.